Live from the Majestic Princess at last! August 1 2021 to Alaska

[CruzeQueen2]

29 minutes ago, Jeter02 said:

Omg!!!! Soooo good. Honestly I have the sweetest couple sitting next to me as we're on those boths for tables for two. They get a kick out of me every evening as I order multiple dishes I told him someone's got a taste test and give the dining stuff feedback. The part that makes everyone giggle is is I'm this tiny super petite little girl. 

Works for me! Keep it coming, please. I can almost taste what you're having. Such delicious memories.💖

[Jeter02]

25 minutes ago, farsight said:

@Jeter02 I went back and looked at some of your old posts. Didn't find the answer to whether you ever went on a flight with Michelle and Island Wings in Ketchikan. She is amazing. DW and I went on one of her tours and loved it!

OMG!!!! Yes!!! Michelle is absolutely fabulous. I actually did two tours with her in a two year period and I've actually done a tour with a nice gentleman Dave who also rents out the dock in the same building for his seaplane and his company is called mountain Air (Michelle was all booked up- or it was the way they need it to disperse the guest based off of weight restrictions. They used the same secretary in their little building). He is just as fantastic. I've done the bear sighting with both of them and then with Michelle I've also done the Misty fjords. I cannot recommend both of them enough!!!!

[mmllss]

4 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

$115 on a Royal Class ship (marketed as Chef's Table Lumiere).

$95 on other ships.

 

There is a discount if you do not have the wines that accompany the event.

I think it is $20,  but no doubt someone will correct if I am wrong. 

 

It is not the full experience with now if you have seen the posts from those who did it last week - but price stayed the same.  Nevertheless, those who did it enjoyed it.  I prefer the Winemaker's Dinner.

what is the difference between the chef's table and the wine makers dinner  - in previous posts they seem similar but its a big difference in the price

[Steelers36]

5 hours ago, mmllss said:

what is the difference between the chef's table and the wine makers dinner  - in previous posts they seem similar but its a big difference in the price

 

https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/ships/products/dining-specialty/chefs-table-experience.html

https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/ships/products/dining-specialty/chefs-table-lumiere.html

 

I have not done the above - just read about them.  Essentially the same thing, except a special dining spot designed for the purpose on Royal Class ships.  Someone who has done both would have to weigh in if there is anything extra special about Chef's Table on Royal Class versus the older ships - other than dedicated location.

 

 

Winemaker's Dinner

Only offered on Royal Class ships.  (That said, I have participated in a similar special meal on a longer journey on ISLAND that was a special event held in a Specialty restaurant). 

 

There is no interaction with Exec Chef.  No kitchen visit.  No souvenir photo (of course you can take your own).  No cookbook.  No apron.  No frills in other words. 

 

This is closer to a meal experience in the Crown Grill, but more intimate and held in the "wine cellar" area in midst of a Royal Class DR that you may have noticed while on a ship.  It would be held if sufficient demand (usually the case).  The MD organizes it.  You get a multi-course special meal with selected wines that accompany each course.  If you consider that a CG meal costs $29/pp, then $40/pp for a special meal + wine is a great deal.  It is limited to max of 12 people seated at the table. 

(I am surprised it isn't $45 now - and maybe it is - CG price was raised from $25 to $29 sometime back).

 

[CineGraphic]

8 hours ago, Jeter02 said:

I don't see anything about allergies when you're ordering that will give you an explanation of exactly what's in there and what to avoid if you have x y and z allergies.

 

That simply means, you have to look out for yourself.

If you are worried about allergens, order from someone in person.

[JF - retired RRT]

12 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

@JF - retired RRTthat was me who organized the CT. But I reported it was more of a wink and a smile. I would never browbeat or threaten Neville!!!

 

and he did say that after getting the clearance for ours he would continue to offer them. I may have missed saying that. 

It was a joke (nuance is missed with the written word). Guess I should have added...🤣or😄or😉.

[mcg1313]

Keep this great information coming. I really like the links to the "big Blog". Did I see the lobster roll priced at $15 this cruise? I think I saw $12 last cruise. Coming from New England I know what "market price" means.

Marking time till Sept 26

John

[Glaciers]

You are now passing through one of the best humpback whale sighting areas in the state. Anyone on deck looking?

Edited August 5, 2021 by Glaciers

[JF - retired RRT]

12 hours ago, Jeter02 said:

The Wi-Fi hasn't been the strongest so it's not being friendly In letting me edit my oh So glorious voice to text responses on here. I never learned my lessons where I need to go back and reread them before I hit submit. My apologies 🤣

 

Quick and short answer... you're going to need to be masked up at all time if you're off the ship and during excursions we're going in the shops or whatever it is that you're doing ashore. During your actual excursion not including the transportation portion of it they may let you take your mask off depending what activity you're doing.

Ahhh. Voice to text. That explains it. I was enjoying all the many ways that "mask" was being interpreted.

[JF - retired RRT]

11 hours ago, MamaFej said:

Excellent. We mostly live in our motor home. E-Bikes have become very popular with RVers, and we've considered getting some. I was not at all comfortable with the expense, without trying them first. This might be just the opportunity we need. 

E-bikes are a blast! We did an excursion on Cozumel with them. Wonderful. Really good for me as due to an old injury I have extensive arthritis in my right ankle and can't bend my foot to get on the pedal. Last time I tried on a regular bike, I fell over.😒

[manunia]

21 hours ago, SaltwaterDaffy said:

I wonder if they're just not using the inside cabins. Anyone out there with a inside cabin?

Yes. I am in inside cabin and all inside cabins on my side between front and middle elevators are full including a couple with 4 people 

[voljeep]

57 minutes ago, JF - retired RRT said:

Ahhh. Voice to text. That explains it. I was enjoying all the many ways that "mask" was being interpreted.

"masks" - well what about post #433 and then being buddy / buddy 😈

[Jeter02]

7 hours ago, mmllss said:

what is the difference between the chef's table and the wine makers dinner  - in previous posts they seem similar but its a big difference in the price

Steelers36 actually took a really nice job explaining the difference. I have done both multiple times. 

 

Just mentioned before with the chef's table when you start off at least on a royal class yet they usually do hors d'oeuvres and champagne in Alfredo's as an introduction and they give you an opportunity to ask any questions you may have and they give you some fun facts about relation of how much food they order on both to get on board and how far in advance they have to order and they take all sorts of questions you may have.

 

Entering one of the main dining rooms to make your way into the galley they give everyone a white coat before entering makes me feel very shelf-like and why. And then you get a lovely grand tour of the galley which is quite intimate and at the end of it you have the chef waiting there with a cute little setup more drinks are being served and some more delicious hors d'oeuvres that he has prepared is waiting you it gives you an opportunity to ask once again all sorts of good questions you may have.

 

After that you'll get escorted into the allegro dining room which is the one on Deck 6 all the way after they have the very fancy schmancy Lumiere table that has Swarovski Crystal curtain so the other people can't peek in and watch your beautiful experience. Obviously multiple courses a theater being served lots of wine. And it's really nice because everyone has kind of like their own little private wait staff as when they bring out your food they do a countdown and they all lift the dome at the same time to reveal the meal. Oh and you're eating off of like 24 karat gold silverware which I used to die laughing when I had a vodka margarita to say you were slurping vodka pretty much with a gold spoon. Essentially a really nice dinner and the chef so proudly comes out and explains every dish he does and at the end you do get a cookbook all the beautiful ladies get a lovely red rose and you do get a souvenir photo it is an amazing experience top notch quality meal.

 

 

Now the winemakers table like I said is always like a mini version but a lot easier on the pocket if you're not looking to spend as much as the chef's table. There's a table in the symphony and concerto that have The wine cellar table seats. Also has multiple courses of amazing food and the quality once again is also top notch the chef will come out and probably explain to you what you're eating and they pair each dish with a different wine so for example they might do wine from the Mondavi collection or one from the Silverado whatever their little heart desires at that time that they wanted present. No tours no souvenirs but a. gosh darn yummy meal

[trey420]

10 hours ago, Jeter02 said:

Unfortunately no. They do tell you what time they are available for ordering as shown in the picture which I took a screenshot of from The Medallion app. This section only appears once your physically on board the ship.

 

 

Excellent now I can have General Tso delivered from Harmony and feel like I'm at home lol.

[Jeter02]

24 minutes ago, trey420 said:

Excellent now I can have General Tso delivered from Harmony and feel like I'm at home lol.

You go for it! And enjoy it! 🤣

[geoherb]

I always thought that straight couples were getting shortchanged with the chef's table. They would present the man with the cookbook and the woman with a rose at the end of the dinner. We both got cookbooks but no roses when DH and I went. And then when I attended with a lesbian couple, both of them got cookbooks and roses. At $115 per person, it seems like everyone should be treated equally.

[farsight]

9 hours ago, Jeter02 said:

OMG!!!! Yes!!! Michelle is absolutely fabulous. I actually did two tours with her in a two year period and I've actually done a tour with a nice gentleman Dave who also rents out the dock in the same building for his seaplane and his company is called mountain Air (Michelle was all booked up- or it was the way they need it to disperse the guest based off of weight restrictions. They used the same secretary in their little building). He is just as fantastic. I've done the bear sighting with both of them and then with Michelle I've also done the Misty fjords. I cannot recommend both of them enough!!!!

@Jeter02On our first trip to Alaska (Golden Princess 2009) I was not a member of CC. However, I had done extensive research on excursions and found nothing but good reviews of Island Wings. We scheduled a two hour Misty Fjords excursion with Michelle. I was impressed with the fact that she was one of very few pilots that provide services year round. She services the local fishermen and finds schools of fish for them. We got in to Ketchikan on a very foggy day, were picked up by her secretary and taken to her dock. Michelle was just arriving from having been up finding fish for the fisherman. There were six people scheduled for the excursion. She explained that while it was safe to fly we would probably not enjoy the flight as visibility was beyond poor. She gave us the choice of going on the excursion or cancelling with a full refund. We all elected to cancel. Icing on top was that she gave us a DVD to see what we had missed. A freaking class act!  Fast forward one year. We were on the Celebrity Infiniti  with DW's mother. We hadn't scheduled a flight tour but checked out her desk on the pier. We went to the Lumberjack show with MIL as we felt that it was a better fit for her. Somewhere along the line, DW and I decided the two of us would take a shorter version of her Misty Fjords flight tour. It was absolutely gorgeous and one of our most memorable/enjoyable excursions.

[CruiseChick33]

Good morning from just outside Glacier Bay!  This morning we are up early to catch Glacier Bay and all the wildlife it holds!!  Last night we finished the day in the dining room and the in the Ocean Terrace Bar.  We had the Prosciutto and Melon appetizer, the Caesar salad and iced peach bellini soup, the shrimp with shrimp bisque special, the veal scaloppini, and we each had the Chocolate Journeys Trio for desert.  Dinner was incredible and our servers were again fantastic! After dinner, our server was able to snag us some peach puree and we took it to the Ocean Terrace bar where they were able to turn it into 2 amazing cocktails.  They were so good that both of us had 2 of them!

 

This morning we had our coffee delivered early.  We have found that room service is hit or miss.  They lost our last coffee order, and the ones before took over an hour to arrive, so this time we decided to place the order the night before on the breakfast form.  Bring a pen!!! They no longer provide them, or pads of paper, and I had to go down to Guest Services to get one. 

 

Speaking of paper, new for this cruise is the photography is fully digitized!  Gone are the days of people milling about in the hallway trying to find their pictures!  You now go to the computers on deck 6 and look up your room.  If all your pictures don't pop up, you can take a picture of yourself and it will utilize facial recognition to find all your other pics.  

 

[USCcruisecrazy]

4 minutes ago, CruiseChick33 said:

Good morning from just outside Glacier Bay!  This morning we are up early to catch Glacier Bay and all the wildlife it holds!!  Last night we finished the day in the dining room and the in the Ocean Terrace Bar.  We had the Prosciutto and Melon appetizer, the Caesar salad and iced peach bellini soup, the shrimp with shrimp bisque special, the veal scaloppini, and we each had the Chocolate Journeys Trio for desert.  Dinner was incredible and our servers were again fantastic! After dinner, our server was able to snag us some peach puree and we took it to the Ocean Terrace bar where they were able to turn it into 2 amazing cocktails.  They were so good that both of us had 2 of them!

 

This morning we had our coffee delivered early.  We have found that room service is hit or miss.  They lost our last coffee order, and the ones before took over an hour to arrive, so this time we decided to place the order the night before on the breakfast form.  Bring a pen!!! They no longer provide them, or pads of paper, and I had to go down to Guest Services to get one. 

 

Speaking of paper, new for this cruise is the photography is fully digitized!  Gone are the days of people milling about in the hallway trying to find their pictures!  You now go to the computers on deck 6 and look up your room.  If all your pictures don't pop up, you can take a picture of yourself and it will utilize facial recognition to find all your other pics.  

 

Enjoying the write-ups.  Well Done!

 

Just an FYI:  when we sailed on the Sky in December of 2019, the photos were all done that way.  View on a computer and buy what you like.

 

Have a great day in Glacier Bay!!

[CruiseChick33]

4 minutes ago, USCcruisecrazy said:

Enjoying the write-ups.  Well Done!

 

Just an FYI:  when we sailed on the Sky in December of 2019, the photos were all done that way.  View on a computer and buy what you like.

 

Have a great day in Glacier Bay!!

We had never seen that, and are enjoying it immensely!  We also are no longer getting our picture taken at dinner or when we get on or off the boat.  It has been very nice not to be pushed into pictures all the time. 

Edited August 5, 2021 by CruiseChick33

[Jeter02]

38 minutes ago, geoherb said:

I always thought that straight couples were getting shortchanged with the chef's table. They would present the man with the cookbook and the woman with a rose at the end of the dinner. We both got cookbooks but no roses when DH and I went. And then when I attended with a lesbian couple, both of them got cookbooks and roses. At $115 per person, it seems like everyone should be treated equally.

Agreed. I'm usually a solo traveler so I do get both. God knows how many copies of this same cookbook I have at home. 🤣

[Jeter02]

26 minutes ago, farsight said:

@Jeter02On our first trip to Alaska (Golden Princess 2009) I was not a member of CC. However, I had done extensive research on excursions and found nothing but good reviews of Island Wings. We scheduled a two hour Misty Fjords excursion with Michelle. I was impressed with the fact that she was one of very few pilots that provide services year round. She services the local fishermen and finds schools of fish for them. We got in to Ketchikan on a very foggy day, were picked up by her secretary and taken to her dock. Michelle was just arriving from having been up finding fish for the fisherman. There were six people scheduled for the excursion. She explained that while it was safe to fly we would probably not enjoy the flight as visibility was beyond poor. She gave us the choice of going on the excursion or cancelling with a full refund. We all elected to cancel. Icing on top was that she gave us a DVD to see what we had missed. A freaking class act!  Fast forward one year. We were on the Celebrity Infiniti  with DW's mother. We hadn't scheduled a flight tour but checked out her desk on the pier. We went to the Lumberjack show with MIL as we felt that it was a better fit for her. Somewhere along the line, DW and I decided the two of us would take a shorter version of her Misty Fjords flight tour. It was absolutely gorgeous and one of our most memorable/enjoyable excursions.

Yes, I had a similar experience. My first excursion I ever did with her was supposed to be the Misty fjords, but she had to cancel it because she showed us the webcams at the top of the fjord. That it was totally fogged and she said we could do one of two things which is either give you 100% refund and cancel you, or we can do something that's not as Grand as the Misty fjords which want as fogged, or we will give you our $600 (or however much it was) their bear sighting package for no extra cost from what you paid to see the fjords excursion. So it was like a $400 gift gift. I totally was all about sign me up let's do this bear sighting. That's why I went back the following year to do the bear sighting again because it's one of my favorites.

 

On another Different trip I did the following year, I finally did the misty fjords with her. The pros of being so itty bitty you always get to be the co-pilot, which I love. You can't beat those views.  She's all about taking a good selfie with everyone in her seaplane. But she was so kind that after doing our selfie, i unfortunately get terribly motion sickness, but I always  Take a bonine which usually helps. Apparently because it was such a hot day that's the worst when flyung because all these air pockets which gives you a little bit more turbulence than normal. I kindly asked after we did our selfie together if she had a puke bag as I was going to get sick and she was the biggest sweetheart about it. She just kept saying no no you're fine I was constantly apologizing and she goes this happens all the time you're not the only one. And she told me i took it like a champ. 🤣

[Jeter02]

19 minutes ago, CruiseChick33 said:

We had never seen that, and are enjoying it immensely!  We also are no longer getting our picture taken at dinner or when we get on or off the boat.  It has been very nice not to be pushed into pictures all the time. 

It's so funny that you mentioned that. That's one thing I didn't observe at all. But typically I always tell him no thank you with the photos at dinner. Good eye you have there.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

If anyone on this sailing does the winemakers table will you please post pictures of the courses and menu with wine pairings?

 

I’d love to compare them to the chef table we had on the first sailing. I posted all the pictures and menu towards the end of our live from thread after I got home. 
 

@Jeter02 If you have photos from a previous winemakers table that would be great. 
thanks!

[caribill]

2 hours ago, CruiseChick33 said:

 

 

Speaking of paper, new for this cruise is the photography is fully digitized!  Gone are the days of people milling about in the hallway trying to find their pictures!  You now go to the computers on deck 6 and look up your room.  If all your pictures don't pop up, you can take a picture of yourself and it will utilize facial recognition to find all your other pics.  

 

 

How many computers are available? 

 

In other words, how many people can be looking at pictures at the same time?